Casualties of Soldiers 

The details of defence personnel killed in different operations / encounters during the last four calendar years are as under:-

The Government takes all necessary measures for the protection of the Forces and minimization of risk factors on a continuous basis. The broad measures taken include upgration of security infrastructure and intelligence capabilities, refinement of operational drill and response mechanism, equipping the forces with state-of-art weapon, equipment and surveillance devices, medical support and quick casualties evacuation mechanism. Measures also include provisioning of bullet proof jackets. The details of bullet proof jackets procured in last three calendar years are as under:-

* A contract has been signed on 9th April, 2018 for Capital Procurement of 1,86,138 bullet proof jackets through ‘Buy’ (Indian) route for Army.

The details of number of incidents of suicide in the defence forces during last four years, Force-wise & year-wise are as under:-

Various steps have been taken by the Armed Forces to create healthy / appropriate environment for their Officers and Other Ranks and to improve their morale. Some of these steps are as under:-

• Provision of better quality of facilities such as clothing, food, married accommodation, travel facilities, schooling, recreation etc. and periodic welfare meeting.
• Conduct of yoga and meditation as a tool for stress management.
• Training and deployment of psychological counsellors.
• Institutionalization of projects ‘MILAP’ and ‘SAHYOG’ by Army in Northern & Eastern Command to reduce stress among troops.
• A ‘Mansik Sahayata Helpline’ have been established by Army & Air Force to take professional counselling.
• Mental Health Awareness is provided during pre-induction training.
• Formation of Military Psychiatry Treatment Centre at INHS Asvini and establishment of Mental Health Centres in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Port Blair, Goa and Karwar.

The details of strength of Officers in the three Armed Forces (excluding medical and dental), force-wise are as under:-

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri P.L. Punia in Rajya Sabha